The present invention relates to storage systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to magnetoresistive sensors used in such storage systems.
Magnetic storage systems are used to store magnetically encoded information. There has been an ongoing desire in such storage systems to increase the storage density. Frequently, steps toward this goal are achieved by reducing the size of various components. One such component is the transducer which is used to read and write information onto a storage medium. During writing, the transducer impresses a magnetic field onto the storage medium, for example, using an inductive coil in an inductive head. During readback, the written field is sensed using, for example, a magnetoresistive sensor.
In general, a decrease in the size of an electrical component causes an increase in the component""s electrical resistance. This increased resistance causes attenuation of the signals which must be carried by or through the electrical components. Further, the increased resistance can cause electrical noise in small signals. As storage densities continue to increase, and the size of components continue to decrease, the increased resistance of the components is one of the limiting factors in the design and implementation of magnetic storage devices.
The present invention addresses these problems and offers other advantages over the prior art.
The present invention relates to electrical interconnects having reduced resistance thereby addressing the above-identified problem.
An electrical interconnect is configured to provide an electrical connection between a first point and a second point. The interconnect includes a planar specular reflection layer and a planar conductor is positioned adjacent the planar specular reflection layer. The planar conductor is configured to conduct electrons between the first and second points and the planar specular reflection layer confines the electrons to the planar conductor through specular reflection. This reduces electrical resistance of the electrical interconnect measured in a direction parallel with the plane.